Laura Farwell Blake receives national award

December 9, 2010

News from Harvard schools, offices, and affiliates

Laura Farwell Blake, head of Services for Academic Programs at Harvard University’s Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, has been named one of 10 librarians recognized for service to her community as a winner of the Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award.

Farwell Blake is noted for her “genuine excitement about matching students with techniques of learning and modes of research” by her nominator and is said to be “routinely described to prospective graduate students as being the number one reason to attend Harvard for an English Ph.D.”

Each of the 10 award winners receives a $5,000 cash award and will be honored at a ceremony and reception in New York, hosted by The New York Times, on Dec. 9.

More information about the award recipients is available atthe I Love My Librarian Award Web page. Nominations were open to librarians working in public, school, college, community college and university libraries.

“Libraries are among those cherished institutions that are most representative of our open society,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. “We must, therefore, acknowledge that libraries—and hence, librarians—are indispensable to the strength and vitality of our nation and our democracy. We celebrate them as our link to the past, our partner in navigating the present, and our guide to the future.”

“We are delighted to once again join Carnegie Corporation of New York and the American Library Association in honoring librarians from across the country,” said Janet L. Robinson, president and chief executive officer of The New York Times Company. “The New York Times is proud of its commitment to education and is thrilled to pay tribute to these ten men and women who play such a vital role in the intellectual health of their communities and in our society as a whole.”

“We are thrilled to honor the 10 winners of this award for their excellence and as a tribute to the significant impact that libraries and librarians have on the lives of people in their communities every day,” said Roberta Stevens, president of the American Library Association (ALA).

Laura Farwell Blake, head of Services for Academic Programs, in the Loker Room of Widener Library. Blake recently received the Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award.